By Erin ZureickStarNewsOnLine.com – Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 9:18 a.m. Lawyers across the state have been dropping off public defense rolls after learning they will take a pay cut. A tight state budget led Indigent Defense Services to announce last week that it will slash the hourly rate of court-appointed attorneys. “I feel like the previous rate was still less than a fair value,” said attorney David Collins of Collins Law Firm in Wilmington. The decrease is another example of judicial cutbacks that some defense attorneys and prosecutors say could create backlogs in the courts and further strain the justice system. Prosecutor offices across the state will lose victim witness support staff because of the budget, including one position in the New Hanover County district attorney’s office. [More: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20110616/ARTICLES/110619768?p=all&tc=pgall ]
Link:
North Carolina – Cut in pay for court-appointed attorneys trims rolls